“How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful” is this album

The long awaited Florence + The Machine album “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful” was released on June 2, 2015. Ever since the band released their lead single a few months ago, fans had been nervously awaiting the rest of the album.

Florence + The Machine is an indie rock band that formed in London in 2007, and this is their third studio album.

The band released their lead single for the album, “What Kind of Man”, on February 12. The song has a rock and blues vibe to it, accompanied with the sound of loud guitars and the tambourine.

The album includes 11 songs with a grand total of eight bonus tracks, including my two favorites “Mother” and “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful”. HBHBHB is a soft and soulful song that relates to nature and the fact that there is beauty in everything.

Lead singer Florence Welch, sings “Every city was a gift, and every skyline was like a kiss upon the lips/ and I was making you a wish, in every skyline.” Welch revealed that the song was inspired by the Los Angeles skies.

In “Mother”, Welch asks Mother Nature to take her away and to protect her from her own mistakes.

She sings, “Can you protect me from what I want? The love I let in, it left me so lost/ Mother, make me, Make me a big tall tree, so I can shed my leaves and let it blow through me.”

Their previous album, “Ceremonials,”  was more dark and romantic. This album is soulful and dramatic, and it felt more personal. Welch describes the relationships that went wrong and how she has grown from them. She had further revealed in an interview that this album centers on learning how to live and love without trying to escape the problems.

In “St. Jude” she sings, ” And I’m learning, so I’m leaving/And even though I’m grieving, I’m trying to find the meaning…”

Welch explains the difficulty of leaving someone behind, but how in the end it is the only option and the right thing to do.

“I thought the Machine could not do better than their last album, ‘Ceremonials,’ but they really outdid themselves,” says freshman Ashana Patel.

All of the Machine’s albums have one thing in common, however: Welch’s voice. Welch’s voice is what truly brings the songs together. She kind of has that gospel-y church voice – deep and beautiful – that can make almost anything sound beautiful.

Freshman Alexa Gill says, “Her voice gives me shivers. The good kind.”

Welch’s soulful voice and meaningful lyrics really pulled this album together. This is the kind of music you can listen to over and over again without getting sick of it, which is why I am giving the album an overall 4.5/5.

HBHBHB has received mostly positive reviews and scores from critics. The Rolling Stones gave “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful” 3.5/5 stars (which is pretty good for Rolling Stones) and  Billboard gave a score of 4/5. Currently, the album is number one on the iTunes Chart.

What do you think of Florence + The Machine’s new album?